Not sure my child is ready for the next program

[Mumkins]

My son turned 7 in Oct. He's doing Bigger with my 9yo. He really dislikes writing of any sort. So, TBH he hasn't done much of the vocab and timeline with hime. We do most of English 2 orally. He does his math written. He complains when he has to copy one or two verses to put on a science or history notebook. It seems like Preparing is going to be a BIG stretch for him. My 9yo hasn't really been thrilled with writing/copying stuff, but she's done a lot better. We still have 9 units left to go and 5 months left til we start Preparing. Perhaps he'll be more ready by then? What do I do if we start up and after a few weeks in, it's apparent he's not ready for Preparing?

[my3sons]

That is a good realization to have - I agree with you that PHFHG will have even more writing than Bigger Hearts had, which would suit your 9 yo, but not your 7 yo. What about your 7 yo doing Beyond? I can't remember if he has already done that? But I think that would fit him well based on what you are saying. Here is a comparison of the writing in BHFHG and PHFHG in case that helps...

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3602

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Mumkins,

I'd also be inclined to place your 7 year old in Beyond, or depending on how soon he will be 8, pondering whether he could possibly combine with your 5 year old in LHFHG. Or, if your 5 year old is soon to be 6, perhaps she could combine with your 7 year old in Beyond? I'm not sure how much of HOD your 7 year old has done in the past, or which guides, so forgive me for not being able to remember better.

If you get a chance to pop back and share a bit more about what he's done in the past that would help refresh our memories.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Mumkins]

He'll be 8 in Oct. My 5yo will be 6 in Dec. But, I don't think she's ready for Beyond. She knows most of her letters and several sounds, but is not reading at all. She writes her name, mom, dad and makes attempts at her siblings names. I think she places better in LHFHG.

I know it's not recommended to do back to back. Fast forward two years from now, if we put him in Beyond, we'd be doing RTR, Preparing, Bigger and LHFHG. Maybe even LHTH if I'm ambitious. Is that too much?

Should I maybe spend the rest of the year trying to get his writing skills up?

[blessedmomof4]

Hm, perhaps-LHTH with the 2 and 5 year olds, Beyond with the 7 year old, and Preparing with the 9 year old? You can repeat LHTH with the youngest child, even stretch it over 3 years to avoid having anyone back to back (just joining where appropriate at age 2 and 3, and really doing the plans in earnest at age 4). Just another suggestion.

[my3sons]

Your oldest will be more independent in PHFHG, which should free up some teaching time for your other dc. You have many options for your other dc, but in general, I'd say it would be nice to shoot for 3 guides total for the years to come, however you think that can best be done. Your oldest will be in PHFHG, and I think it makes sense to keep moving her on at her own pace.

So, you have the option Lourdes shared in the pp, and that is a good idea. Another idea would be to have...
*oldest PHFHG
*5 and 7 yo in LHFHG (yes, for a year it will be easy on 7 yo, but you can up LA and math by slowly finishing out R & S English 2, with a goal for him to begin writing a portion of it, do higher level math, do either Emerging Reader's Set or DITHOR 2/3 - whichever fits him better - and if you want have him listen in on PHFHG's Storytime read-aloud too, and have him begin copywork of Bible verse each week)
*2 yo and baby would eventually be paired together in LHTH

Still another idea would be to have...
*oldest PHFHG
*7 yo half-speed Beyond
*5 yo half-speed LHFHG
*2 yo and baby would eventually be paired together in LHTH
Yes, this would be 4 guides eventually, but really only 2 guide's worth now, as 2 of the dc would be half-speed. Really once dc are in PHFHG (if they have learned the skills well previously taught by us in Bigger Hearts on down), they are on the road to greater independence in their learning, as they have grown and matured, and that is the next natural progression of learning skills. So, as your oldest becomes more and more independent, your middles would need you more. Then even further down the road, your oldest would be very independent, your middles quite independent, at the time your littles are needing you more. We have found teaching multiple guides to be very manageable and even very enjoyable because of this progression HOD provides.

I guess if I were you, I'd consider - Who works well together? Which guides will allow my dc to work at a level they can be very successful with, with no tweaking to make things easier? And what is best overall for the years to come? Hope something here helps!

In Christ,
Julie

[Mumkins]

I looked at the chart. He fits into Bigger.

He can read very well
He can write manuscript
He can copy stuff, he just doesn't like to
He's in unit 5 of R&S 2 and doing well with it
We do our own math, but he's just about finished grade 2 and almost never makes a mistake

He's an extremely bright boy. He doesn't like to be taught anything, he wants you to give it to him to figure out. When he was 4 he said to me "Mommy, when I have 3 finger and I add 1 more finger, I get 4 fingers" and I'd never taught him any math. Before I taught him any sounds, he came to me and said "Book starts with B". TBH, I'm not even sure how he learned to read. I taught him the alphabet and what sounds each letter makes, and from there he just started reading. He doesn't like to be read to though. I think he might enjoy the Independent reading stuff in Preparing. We tried a trial day and he really liked the Drawing through History (I think that's what it's called) and liked designing the shield. I think he *can* do Preparing. It's the writing that will be the problem. But will he want to write in a year or even two? Maybe he's just one of those reluctant writers.

[daybreaking]

I looked at the chart. He fits into Bigger.

He can read very well
He can write manuscript
He can copy stuff, he just doesn't like to
He's in unit 5 of R&S 2 and doing well with it
We do our own math, but he's just about finished grade 2 and almost never makes a mistake

I think he *can* do Preparing. It's the writing that will be the problem.

Honestly, if he is unable to complete Bigger as written, including all of the writing, I would think you would be setting both of you up for frustration to move on, not to mention that you would have to modify Preparing a great deal and thus you would be missing the benefits of the program. If you put him back into Beyond, he would gradually be able gain the writing skills he needs, without feeling as if he is being pushed beyond his current ability. Last summer, my son turned 8, and was similar to how you described your son (reading very well, writing with manuscript, finishing 2nd grade math, etc). He was "capable" of doing Bigger, but we chose to go with Beyond. In retrospect, I am so glad we made that decision. This year has been wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable; the growth I have seen in my ds has been amazing. I know he's going to enjoy Bigger so much more with the additional skills under his belt, plus he'll be able to do all of the writing without a fuss, unlike what I think would have happened had I pushed him. Just a thought ... HTH.

[8arrows]

You do still have 5 months and 9 units left to go. Finish strong, work a little on writing over the summer, and see where you are at in 5 months. You really don't have to make a decision right now. He could bloom and surprise you!

[my3sons]

It sounds like he fits in Bigger Hearts pretty squarely then, and like dd is doing well with Bigger Hearts except she dislikes the writing portion of it. Hmmm. Do you think you could slow Bigger Hearts down to half-speed now? Then just take a break like you were going to, and then pick it back up half-speed next year to finish it. It would give you a little time to have ds work on gradually upping his writing, to try to get him to be doing more of Bigger Hearts by the time you complete it, and also for dd to continue to practice the writing and grow in that area as well. You could have ds do small amounts of copywork over the break, and dd too. That could help him strengthen those muscles and skills, so he'd come back to Bigger Hearts able to finish it stronger. You could then finish out Bigger Hearts, and start PHFHG half-speed? 8arrows made a good point of how dc can surprise us and bloom too.

In Christ,
Julie

[Mumkins]

Maybe. I'll have to think on it more and take a good look at the guide when it gets here. If only customs would release it.